Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 9 [RPG]

 [25 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

At the Shoanti campsite in Skaldwood, Takota excuses himself from the other members of the group to prepare a ceremony to welcome the impending arrival of a great leader of his people.  Yraelzin, Goldcape, and Ralph Blackfeather continue discussing the best way to discover why Ambassador Amprei has been making regular visits to Eel’s End.  Although they don’t reach a clear resolution, one decision is made: if they have to fight the “King of Spiders,” it’d be good to have protection against spider venom!  At the cluttered shop of miscellaneous magical goods named Hedge Wizardry, proprietor Phaeton Skoda says he knows an alchemist who prepares antitoxins for sale—though the man’s laboratory is all the way across the city, in Old Korvosa.  Like many in the city, Skoda has started to hear rumours of the curious group’s role in shutting down Gaedren Lamm’s criminal enterprise and the Cow Hammer Boys’ “murder for hire” business.  Thus, Skoda feels comfortable bringing one of his own troubles to the group’s attention.  He explains that his cousin, Tiora, was supposed to arrive in Korvosa on a ship called the Scrag Fisher some days ago—but she still hasn’t shown up and he’s worried.  Although there could be a perfectly mundane explanation, he promises the group a small reward if they keep their ears open about her whereabouts.

With time running out before the dusk curfew begins, the group decide to split up to accomplish some errands.  Ralph visits the wharfs and asks some questions, learning that the Scrag Fisher never arrived at the docks.  Meanwhile, Goldcape travels along the Shingles until he reaches the alchemist’s shop that Skoda told her about: a place called Ledbetter’s Apothecary.  The owner, an opinionated, racist, and generally grumpy old man, isn’t pleased to see a “monkey girl” like Goldcape, and overcharges her for the antitoxins.

That evening, rumors abound that King Eodred II was murdered!  According to the rumors, a member of the palace guard confessed to being in on an assassination plot, and that the king’s killer was actually a young commoner who painted his portrait across several weeks while secretly poisoning him!  The fact that the city’s various law enforcement groups are out in force may indeed be proof that they’re looking for a suspect.

[26 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

A new day dawns, and it will prove to be an eventful one indeed

Majenko

After reporting for work as a newly-hired member of Devargo Barvasi’s gang of enforcers, Ralph listens carefully to the conversation around him and subtly asks a question or two to learn more about the King of Spiders’ operation.  It becomes apparent that there must be several cabins below decks of the Eel’s End, and that Barvasi spends most of his time aboard the ship--apart from a periodic daily excursion into the city for meals.  The intelligence leads Ralph to decide on a new plan: instead of waiting for the ambassador’s arrival or hoping to overhear the information he needs, he’s going to search the lower decks when Barvasi is away!  Waiting until lunchtime, Ralph knows he has less than an hour before Barvasi returns to his “throne room.” He slips inside and starts looking around.  Noticing the staircase that leads below decks, Ralph is about to tip-toe down when he realises he’s being watched—by the caged house drake!  Ralph asks the drake why it’s been caged, and the drake says he was captured and given to Barvasi as a gift from one of his recent recruits.  The drake, whose name is Majenko, says Barvasi has been tormenting him for days.  Ralph says that if the drake stays quiet about his descent below and alerts him if anyone comes into the throne room, he’ll set him free.  Majenko quickly agrees.

Below decks, Ralph finds several cramped rooms, including a shiver lab, a foul-smelling (but fortunately empty) brig, and a hold stockpiled with food and water.  Hearing movement on the far side, he avoids opening one door that would lead directly under the throne room.  But another door leads to something more promising: Barvasi’s personal quarters!  Ominous creaking indicates movement on the top deck as Ralph quickly searches through the room.  He finds a wooden sea chest, but unable to pick the lock has to resort to loudly smashing it open.  Inside is a small treasure trove of jewellery and coins, plus two letters detailing a scandalous liaison between Ambassador Amprei and Verania Tvastiox, the young wife of his superior back in Cheliax!

The King of Spiders

But with the only staircase up leading to the throne room that Majenko’s loud fuss indicates is now occupied, Ralph is trapped.  He quickly decides on a dangerous plan.  Changing into his masked garb as The Reckoner, he hides in Barvasi’s bedroom for several hours, waiting to ambush the King of Spiders!  Sometime after midnight, the lord of vice walks in with an armful of business reports in his hands.  The Reckoner leaps out to attack, swinging his powerful battle-maul, but Barvasi ducks with uncanny speed and lashes out with spiked gauntlets glistening with spider venom!  It’s a one-on-one battle to the death in the tight confines of the cabin, as the Reckoner’s attacks are slower but bone-crushing and Barvasi’s attacks come fast and furious but leave only shallow cuts.  Barvasi finally calls out for his enforcers, as both men are left reeling to the point where a single blow would fell either one.  But back-up doesn’t arrive in time to save the King of Spiders, as a final massive swing from the Reckoner’s weapon crushes the crimelord’s skull!

When the enforcers finally arrive to find their employer dead at the feet of a bloodied masked marauder, they decide their lives are worth more than loyalty to a dead man.  The Reckoner strides past them, climbs the stairs, sets Majenko free (receiving a promise of a year’s service in return), and disappears into the night.  In a deserted alleyway, The Reckoner once again becomes Ralph Blackfeather.  It’s well past curfew, however, so the Harrowed Hero tries to slip quietly back toward his inn—only to be spotted by a Hellknight patrol!  But, hurtling out of the night, Majenko distracts the armored soldiers just long enough for Ralph to make his getaway.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day (at the same time that Ralph/The Reckoner was below decks of Barvasi’s ship), Goldcape is about to have an adventure of her own.  After Goldcape visits Citadel Volshyanek to inquire about the rumors of the king’s assassin having been found, Field Marshal Kroft arranges a secret meeting at a nearby tavern.  The head of the Korvosan Guard arrives dressed in a nondescript robe, and whispers to Goldcape that the suspect is a young artist named Trinia Sabor.  She explains that the Hellknights have been specially tasked with finding the woman, but that it’s unlikely she’ll receive a fair trial if they catch her.  Kroft says she’s just received a report from an informant that Trinia is hiding in a tenement at 42 Moon Street in Midland.  She would send the Guard to apprehend her, but word could easily leak out and result in the Hellknights—or even a vigilante mob—getting there first.  But if trusted, unofficial agents of the Korvosan Guard who have already proven themselves could catch Trinia and bring her directly to Citadel Volshyanek, Kroft says she could guarantee the suspect would be treated fairly and could be interrogated with magic to learn the truth about the accusations against her.

Goldcape takes the hint and leaves.  After finding Yraelzin, she tries to get in touch with Ralph, but has no luck and leaves a message at the Burnt Honey Inn for him to visit “the place where they first met” as soon as possible.  With time running out as the Hellknights knock heads and smash down doors in a house-to-house search for Trinia, Goldcape and Yraelzin decide to try to apprehend her themselves.  Arriving at 42 Moon Street, they see it’s an address in a densely built section of the city, a place where sunlight at ground level is a rarity due to the sprawling slum known as the Shingles built above them.  The residents of the tenement pretend not to know Trinia, but Goldcape gains their trust by promising not to harm her.  When Goldcape and Yraelzin knock on the door to Trinia’s flat, however, they hear clattering on the far side and then a window being opened!  Leaving Yraelzin there, Goldcape rushes to the nearest exit and leaps onto Rocky to fly around the side of the building.  There, sprinting across the Shingles away from the building, is Trinia Sabor!

Despite Goldcape’s sincere shouts that she means the woman no harm and just wants to help her, Trinia continues to flee so the vanara is forced to give chase.  The artist races along jury-rigged catwalks, across canted rooftops, under lines of laundry, through narrow gaps in boards, and more to increase her lead.  Goldcape’s ability to fly while mounted on Rocky doesn’t seem like much of an advantage at first given all the twists and turns of the Shingles, but eventually she manages to catch up when Trinia is trapped at a seeming dead-end.  Realising there’s no escape, Trinia breaks down in tears, sobbing that she’s been set up, didn’t kill the king, and doesn’t want to die!  Goldcape is compassionate and promises she’ll be safe.  The Harrowed Hero collects Yraelzin and leads a hastily-concealed Trinia back to the group’s safe-house. 

Trinia Sabor

That evening, Grau Soldado—the group’s ally who had visited the safe-house before--arrives at the behest of Field Marshal Kroft to see if they’d been successful.  Goldcape introduces Grau to Trinia, and says they’ll escort the fugitive to Citadel Volshyanek in the morning—assuming they can safely avoid the Hellknight patrols.  Grau is pleased that Trinia has been safely apprehended, but once out of earshot, he tells Goldcape he’s just no longer sure if Field Marshal Kroft can keep her word.  Grau says rumors are flying of shake-ups at high-levels, and that Kroft could be forced to turn Trinia over to the queen’s personal guard or to the Hellknights.  He leaves the safehouse with Goldcape and Yraelzin discussing possible alternatives.

[27 Gozran, 4708 A.R.]

Heavy rains fall, making for a gloomy day.  Leaving Yraelzin to watch over Trinia at the safe-house, Goldcape heads to Citadel Volshyanek to speak with Field Marshal Kroft.  In a happy coincidence, Ralph has gone to the same place to turn over the incriminating letters about Ambassador Amprei.  The group’s twin successes in finding Trinia and solving the dilemma with Amprei are rare pieces of good news to the exhausted, stressed Kroft.  She says she can send an escort of loyal guards to help escort Trinia back to Citadel Volshyanek, but Goldcape says secrecy would still be better and says they’ll deliver Trinia later in the day.

But as Goldcape and Ralph leave Kroft’s office, the two discuss how the way forward isn’t clear.  Should they keep their commitment to Kroft and turn Trinia over?  Should they give weight to Grau’s fears that even the leader of the city’s premiere law enforcement agency couldn’t keep the artist safe?  Should they try to keep Trinia in hiding at the safe-house until the unrest in the city calms down, or even try to smuggle her out to a nearby town?  Each choice seems to be a gamble, and the stakes are higher than ever before!

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GM’s Commentary

No Takota again this session, and it pretty quickly became clear that the player wasn’t going to come back.  It was a bit disappointing as a Shoanti shaman would have been a great addition to the group (and really changed things in Chapter 4!).  I was really stressed in the initial months of the campaign because I had never ran one with so few PCs, so I kept second-guessing my GMing skills and thinking it was all going to fall apart.  But Goldcape’s and The Reckoner’s players were so enthusiastic, we just kept on keeping on and having fun.  What I took away was that every campaign is different, but you can still have a great time with just two players.

I really enjoyed role-playing the alchemist, Ledbetter.  I always think it’s good for PCs of the more exotic races to be noticed and have that reflected in how some people treat them (for better or worse).

Majenko has ended up being really useful the party as a scout and messenger that doesn’t provoke any notice from Hellknights, Gray Maidens, etc.

Ralph and Goldcape were split up for most of this session.  I jumped back and forth between their adventures in the actual session to keep everyone involved, but in the recap that would have been too confusing so I presented them sequentially.

I had Grau foreshadow the risk that Kroft might be mistaken about her ability to keep Trinia safe so that the upcoming execution scene wouldn’t come out of left field.  It led to some good role-playing about what to do and who to trust.